What is sporting elbow?

Elbows are complex joints with osseous and soft-tissue constraints that provide stability. The elbow's relative instability makes it vulnerable to injuries, often caused by sports and these injuries often involve several of the structures associated with the joint and this is called the sporting elbow.

There are many types of elbow injuries experienced by athletes of various ages and levels in different sports. Various causes of these injuries include acute trauma and overuse. Injuries can also range from severe to minor.

Physiotherapy Management of Sporting elbow:

Exercise therapy

  • As a stand-alone treatment or in combination with other modalities, exercise therapy has been shown to be effective in treating elbow pain.

Different exercise therapy in the management of the sporting elbow can include:

  • Isometric muscle contractions –
    • Occur when tension is developed in the muscle without movement, and there is no change in muscle length. For example:
  • Isotonic muscle contractions-
    • Concentric muscle contractions: Muscles can overcome external resistance with enough force. There is movement at the joint and muscle length shortens.
    • Eccentric muscle contractions: As muscles produce force, they lengthen. This happens because the joint moves in the direction of external resistance.
    • Isotonic exercises can be done with the help of:
    • Bodyweight (such as chin-ups), Theraband (such as biceps curls with theraband), Pulleys, Weights, Barbells, Dumbbells.
  • Isokinetic muscle actions-
    • In this exercise velocity of the movement is constant throughout the exercise set. Constant velocity can be achieved by specialized computerized equipment. These types of exercises can help athletes perform exercises that simulate the actual speed and sport-specific activities.

Joint mobilization:

  • Passive joint mobilization,
  • Mulligan’s mobilization with movement,
  • Active mobilization
    • Use a light resistance band with elbows flexed and shoulders abducted at 90 degrees, and pull the band closer to the chin to increase elbow flexion.

Pain management, Stability, and Proprioception:

  • Cryotherapy by cold packs and Cryo-air machine, Taping can assist with pain reduction, Isometric elbow exercises, Also, the vibration technique works well to manage pain and also influence stability and proprioception, Flex bar exercise, Foam roller, Soft tissue mobilization technique, Dry needling, Shockwave therapy.